Category Archives: Vineyard
What is a Chateau?
By definition, a chateau is “a feudal castle or fortress” as well as “a vineyard estate.” Fittingly, the word usually conjures up a vision of some magnificent fairy tale castle in the Loire Valley of France, or a sprawling landscape of perfectly aligned vineyard rows bursting with wine grapes.
Chateau Montelena Winery exemplifies both definitions of “chateau” – a vineyard estate with its own feudal castle. In 1882 Alfred L. Tubbs, the founder of Chateau Montelena, was determined to create one of the finest winegrowing estates, or “chateaus”, in California. This project included the creation of “Hillcrest” – a luxurious 12 bedroom mansion for his residence – the “Chateau” – a massive two story stone wine cellar resembling a castle – and the “Vineyard Estate” – 250 acres of prime vineyards planted with cuttings from some of Europe’s most renowned properties such as Chateau Lafite, Chateau D’Yquem, and the original Liebfraumilch vineyard on the Rhine.
Read more »
